Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Ariel pink on cooler cat records

There's something so alien and amazing about Ariel Pink if you decide to get on board. I haven't heard of anyone not wholeheartedly just giving in to this and completely appreciating it. Sometimes I'm all about stuff that will even annoy the hell out of me after a while... Daniel Johnston... Jandek, but I can't even put Ariel in the same category, I don't know what it is that I completely connect with. The way he dives into this low-fi seventies aesthetic. I have no reference for how it was recorded half the time. It's impossible to pick apart....the rhythms change constantly, but it stays so accessible. But how you would sit down and come up with this is a complete mystery. I can't help but just sit in awe the entire time. There is no one doing anything like this. Gary War, who incidentally played in Ariel's live incarnation, is more atmospheric and psychedelic sounding to me. I kind of zone out and get into the repetition....but Ariel won't let me not think about what I'm listening to every second. The layers of falsetto vocals...he's completely committed in what must be an almost compulsive way. It's pure genius...everything I've heard so far. I have no idea what this sounds like but I'm confident he won't let me down.

I'll be damned if I could find this label Cooler Car records (it's cooler cat actually- still no URL - ed)...but Aquarius has it (go to this link and search for ariel pink) and from their description they won't last long.:

ARIEL PINK'S HAUNTED GRAFFITI "Flashback" (Cooler Car) 7" 8.98
Snagged these from Ariel himself on his recent swing through town. Four brand new songs that find him and his Haunted Graffiti continuing to push the boundaries of their outsider pop orbit. "Flashback" is almost like their would-be arena-pop hit somehow infusing their warped world into a Cheap Trick like anthem gone so wrong it's right, and we can't help but love the over the top hair metal feel that runs throughout. While the other song on the 'a' side also has an almost party-vibe to it the two songs on the 'b' side have much more of a melty and drugged out feel. These have been flying out of here since we got them in the store so we only have a handful left and when they are gone, we'll do our best to get more but sadly that's probably all she wrote....

5 comments:

  1. did you actually manage to grab a copy of this? I ordered the day i saw this post and it was sadly sold out :(

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  2. No, I saw it had the 'add to cart' button still but I didn't go through with it unfortunately. It figures. Oh seven inches....

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  3. This 7" is so good. I'm so glad I went to their show and got one. They had a whole lot of them- 1000 were pressed. It didn't look like they were going to run out. I bet if you drive out to one of their shows you could buy some.

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  4. They just came through brooklyn the other day, I think I probably missed out. If these ever end up as MP3's I'd love to hear them.

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  5. Anonymous12:27 PM

    Cooler Cat Records

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